TARA Quigley’s life changed forever in April 2013 when a teenager she had never met before knocked at her door and sprayed flesh-melting acid in her face.

Tara Quigley has revealed how her life has changed forever following an acid attack

Today the brave 30-year-old, who still has no idea why she was targeted in the horrific, agonising and disfiguring attack, joins with Express.co.uk to call for major changes in the law to restrict over-the-counter sales of these deadly corrosive liquids.

Tara suffered serious and life-changing burns to her face and body when 16-year-old Liam Robert Sibbons threw acid at her on her Romford doorstop in April 2013.

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In October of that year, Sibbons was sentenced to more than eight years in prison, having admitted to throwing a corrosive fluid with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Tara, who was 28 at the time of the attack, has undergone 11 skin grafts and plans to have one more operation in January.

Her life changed forever when she was at home just before 9pm on that April evening, and first heard a knock at the door.

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Ms Quigley thought her life was over following the attack

When she answered, Sibbons was on the doorstep and asked her if she was called Michelle.

When she said 'no', the teen initially walked off.

But ten minutes later a second loud knock on the door came and when Tara went to answer it, Sibbons was again standing on the doorstep, this time with white bottle which he pointed and squeezed at Miss Quigley.

She immediately turned and ran to her nearest sink to splash water on her face while her niece called the police and an ambulance.

She suffered burns to seven per cent of her body, including her right arm, forearm, shoulder, chest, neck and face.

Her pet, long-haired chihuahua Paddy, also required treatment and was blinded in one eye.

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Ms Quigley spoke to Express.co.uk from her Romford home

Speaking to Express.co.uk at her Romford home Tara, now 30, said: “It is great news someone is finally trying to take this forward.

“If you take knife crime, they have started locking these people up and for me, it seems to have slowed that sort of crime down.

“But acid seems to be new thing people are using.

I remember the doctors told me, 'if you had been shot, we would be able to treat you quicker'

Tara Quigley

“Before I got burnt, I had heard about maybe two other people in the country and now it's like I'm seeing it in the news every month.

“Every time I hear 'acid', my heart sinks and it's happening more and more now and my fear is that children will start to copy acid crimes.

“Let's be honest, thinking of crimes like gun and knife crime, acid would be the easiest one for them to copy – it's just a bottle of liquid.

“There is a junk shop around the corner. I could send my niece there with a fiver and ask her to come back with some sort of acid – it's that easy.”

The acid which was used to burn Miss Quigley was a chromic acid, considered to be one of the strongest on the market.

It is meant to only be available to window cleaners and hospitals and is known to strip everything but metal and glass.

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The proud aunt has lent her support to our campaign

Miss Quigley, who has not worked since the attack, added: “I have tried to explain to people what the pain was like.

“They ask, 'was it like someone putting an iron on you?', but it wasn't that. It was excruciating. There is nothing like it.

“I knew straight away it was acid. I said to my sister, 'someone has just thrown acid at me'.”

Tara was initially taken to Royal London Hospital, but once she was stabilised, she was moved to a specialist burns unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Miss Quigley added: “I remember coming to and I could remember everything. I thought my life was over.

"I thought my face, my arms, my chest would be the way they were forever. That's how you feel, you lose all hope.

“I remember the doctors told me, 'if you had been shot, we would be able to treat you quicker'.

“It's a really strange feeling thinking, 'I wish I had been shot', but that's how I felt.”

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Ms Quigley outside Snaresbrook Crown Court in October 2013

The proud aunt, who is adamant is she a “survivor” rather than a “victim”, also revealed she has plans to get the sentencing guidelines on acid attacks changed once she has fully recovered.

She added: “The way I see it, he will be out of jail in July 2017 and his licence expires in 2021, when he will be 23 or 24, with his whole life in front of him.

“I have to live with this forever. This will be part of me forever.

“If he committed this crime as a child aged 15, my worry is – especially after time in prison – what crimes will he be capable when he's 25, when he's an adult?”

Even now, the Metropolitan Police have yet to close the case despite the conviction because Sibbons never provided an explanation for the attack.